Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros
| Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| University | University of Texas Rio Grande Valley |
| Conference | Western Athletic Conference |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletic director | Chris King |
| Location | Rio Grande Valley, Texas |
| Basketball arena | UTRGV Fieldhouse |
| Baseball stadium | Edinburg Stadium |
| Nickname | Vaquero |
| Colors | Kelly Green, Navy Blue, and Orange |
| Website | utrgvvaqueros |
The Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (often referred to as the Rio Grande Vaqueros) is a collegiate athletic program that represents the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The Vaqueros inherited the NCAA Division I status of the Texas–Pan American Broncs and compete in the Western Athletic Conference.
A member of the Western Athletic Conference, UTRGV sponsors teams in eight men's and eight women's NCAA sanctioned sports:
Men's Intercollegiate Sports
Women's Intercollegiate Sports
UTPA, then Pan American College, won the 1963 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament under Coach Sam Williams. Lucious Jackson a/k/a Luscious "Luke" Jackson was one of the players on that championship team. Jackson was selected 4th overall during the 1964 NBA draft. He was selected to the 1964–65 NBA All-Rookie Team and played in the NBA All-Star Game that same year. He played his entire career with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The basketball program, during the mid-1970s was coached by Abe Lemons. Under Lemons, the program had very successful seasons but, lamentably, failed to get invited to any NCAA tournaments. Coach Lemons was later hired away by the University of Texas at Austin.
Upon Lemons' departure to the University of Texas at Austin, Bill White was named the head basketball coach. While at Pan American, Coach White led the Broncs to their first post-season tournament play at the Division I level. During the 1980–81 season, Pan American earned a berth to the 1981 National Invitation Tournament. The Broncs lost to the 1981 NIT champs, the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
The basketball program was also later coached by Lon Kruger, who later went on to coach at Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV, and Oklahoma. He also coached the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA.
The Vaqueros began play for women's basketball in 1982. Their 10-5 record in NAIA play was their only winning season until 2014, when they finished 19-15 in their final season as the Broncs. They finished their season in the WAC title game, though they lost to New Mexico State 70-52. They were invited to the WBI, their first ever postseason appearance in school history. They lost to Louisiana-Lafayette 78-56 in the first round. The next year, they finished 18-13, marking the first time in program history that they had consecutive winning seasons. Though they lost in the WAC title game to New Mexico State again, they were invited to the WBI, where they lost to TCU 97-73.
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